Chapter One (17)

  Tan Zhiyong finished speaking and personally took action, exerting a bit of force to press on the taller person. After struggling for a while, the taller one finally opened his eyes, staring blankly at several people.

  Tan Zhiyong let out a sigh of relief and said to Gao, "Damn it, you scared me to death."

  He took a deep breath and said foolishly: "Am I dead?"

  Tan Zhiyong said: "You almost died, what are you doing, scaring people to death!"

  To put it bluntly: "I'm not... trying... to scare you, I really can't hold on anymore."

  Tan Zhiyong was frightened, holding his head higher and saying: "Brother, don't scare me, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? What disease do you have? I'll find a medical worker for you right away."

  He weakly waved his hand and said: "I don't have any illness, I'm just starving to death. If I die like this, I won't be able to close my eyes in peace..."

  "You don't have to die, I have plenty of mantou here." Tan Zhiyong said and raised his head to shout at a soldier: "Bring him two mantou!"

  A soldier took a few buns from the bag on his back, looking like he hadn't seen a bun in eight lifetimes, grabbed one and stuffed it all into his mouth, almost choking to death.

  Tan Zhiyong patted his shoulder, "You're really having a tough time, eat slowly."

  To put it bluntly: "Before the exercise, I was on duty and didn't have time to eat. I ran all night and almost starved to death."

  Tan Zhiyong shone his flashlight on a slightly higher arm, but where the armband should have been was empty.

  "Where is your red card?"

  "What's with the red card?" asked Gao, holding up his rice bowl a bit higher.

  "Hey, you with the Red Army armband, I'll give you a bun to eat, and you gotta give me your armband in exchange for wine money, is that a fair deal?"

  "To be honest with you, I've already been captured by your people before. You've lost this deal."

  "That won't do, give me back my bun." Tan Zhiyong pressed down on Gao Yidian with one hand and reached out to grab the bun from his hand.

  "Can't even move a bit higher, anxious to shout: 'Catch an officer prisoner, isn't it 300 yuan? I'll treat you to dinner according to this standard when we return to the unit, okay?'"

  Tan Zhiyong half believed and half doubted, "You damn well better keep your word."

  Sit up straight, glare at Tan Zhiyong. "We two came from the same village, went to school together since childhood, skipped class together, fought together, and joined the army together. Everyone in the whole regiment knows that our relationship is the closest, can I cheat my own brother?"

  Tan Zhiyong loosened his grip and said to a soldier, "Give him some water."

  A bit higher and a bit more polite, he said to the soldier: "It's best to bring some more chicken legs and sausages."

  The soldier stood still and didn't move.

  Tan Zhiyong said: "You think this is a restaurant? There's only steamed buns, eat them if you want."

  He rolled his eyes and said to Tan Zhiyong, "There must be some chili peppers somewhere. Who the hell made these steamed buns? They're tasteless."

  Tan Zhiyong said: "You damn well aren't someone who never eats spicy food, are you? You're all acting like captives, yet putting on such a big show."

  "To be honest, we put chili peppers in every dish in our canteen, and we're used to eating them every day."

  Tan Zhiyong said: "There is no Lao Gan Ma anymore, only chili sauce. Do you want it?"

  He nodded slightly and said, "Chili noodles are the best."

  Tan Zhiyong put down a backpack he was carrying and took out a package containing various seasonings, from which he retrieved a small bag of chili powder.

  He stretched out his hand to grab it, but was blocked by Tan Zhiyong.

  "What the hell do you want?"

  A little higher and didn't grab it, let go of his hand, smiled at Tan Zhiyong, "Now I'm not afraid of chili peppers."

  Tan Zhiyong protected the chili noodles and said to Gao: "Bring over the steamed buns."

  No choice but to follow suit.

  Tan Zhiyong rolled the steamed bun in chili sauce and handed it back to Gao.

  "I'll watch you eat, and it's unbearable for you, damn it."

  A little higher, the steamed bun only had a thin layer of chili powder on it. He said to Tan Zhiyong: "You're too stingy, you can't even spare a bit more chili powder."

  Tan Zhiyong put the bun back in and stirred it around, sneering, "This is the spiciest Sichuan pepper, even people from Sichuan don't dare eat too much of it. You still think it's not enough? I won't stop until your asshole is scorched."